A Fox's Chronicle
by SinzutheGreat
Summary: A young man who never understood the multimedia craze that is Pokemon finds himself not only in a world inhabited by Pokemon and Pokemon alone, but having become one himself. With the (unwanted) help of a strange six-tailed vixen, can he find a way back home?
1. A Fallen Star

...I'm lying in some hole somewhere, covered in dirt and mud, with no idea how I got here. For some reason, I don't think this is the worst scenario I've found myself in. This isn't even uncomfortable, just bizarre. Yeah, I've definitely woken up in worse ways.

"Alola," whispers a soft voice. "Are you a shooting star that fell to earth?"

Am I a... Okay, what? Suddenly, I'm very worried about where I am. I open my eyes, and see a white fox with huge blue eyes and six tails, wearing a purple cape. My jaw just sort of hangs open.

The fox giggles. "Oh? I am sorry, I suppose even a fallen star could be left speechless by a frosty little princess."

"Fallen... Okay, shut up." I try to stand up, but my legs don't move the right way. "Where the hell am I?"

"Ah! And a fallen star could be so... crude!" The fox looks hurt by what I said. ...Has it never heard a swear before? "But to answer your questions, o star, you are in the Forest of the Fae, a mystical land where the Fairies roam and mischief reigns."

I groan. Even by weird-talking-fox standards, this thing is weird. I try to stand again, and fall down again.

"My star, are you well?" The fox takes a step closer. " 'tis like you've never stood on your own paws before."

"Stop. Calling. Me. A star," I growl. "And I don't have paws."

It gets even closer. "Are you quite sure? Oh, you must have hit your head when you fell from the heavens. Here." It reaches out. I try to pull away, but I'm already backed against the edge of my hole. It takes my arm, and...

What. The actual. Hell.

There isn't an arm. There's a leg, an animal's leg, covered in grey fur that ends with a tiny little paw. ...Oh my God, the fur freaking sparkles when it moves. SPARKLES. I look at the rest of me, I know I shouldn't, but I do, and I'm all furry and shiny, and there's a giant bushy tail, and... is that a MUZZLE? How did I not see that before!?

"See?" The fox smiles, for some reason. "You're a little white fox, just like me."

"No, I'm NOT!" I snap at it, and it jumps a few feet back. "I'm not an ANIMAL! I'm a HUMAN! This isn't real! You're not real!" I keep snarling and screaming until I need to breathe.

The fox looks at me, like I just told it the puppy died. "...O star, please do not be afraid. Though I know you once shined in the sky, my eyes see a Pokemon here on earth." It sits down and raises its head, and sets a paw on its chest, trying to be all dramatic. "Please, be at peace knowing that the frosty princess shall do all she can to return you to your rightful place in heaven."

I stop listening once it says 'Pokemon'. Again, horror dawns on me. "...You did not just say I'm a Pokemon."

"But I did, for that is what you appear to me as."

And I get back to screaming and snarling, ranting about how Pokemon aren't even REAL, just some Japanese thing that sells toys and people obsess over. God, I don't even know WHY people love the things so much! They're just. CARTOONS. I go on and on, and don't stop until a little after I need to breathe.

Again, the crazy fox thing's looking at me with the dead-puppy eyes. "You... truly believe that? But... I am real. My parents, may mighty Moltres and Articuno bless them, are real. My friends, my homeland, my neighbors... They are all real." Then it stands back up. "Or... perhaps none of us do. Truly, if a star can fall and become a silver-coated Eevee, 'tis possible that none of us are truly what we are, only taking shapes in this mortal realm until we return to the realm of spirit, where we find our true selves. After all, you claim to be human, a creature that has only been seen in legend," it says wistfully. "Why, 'tis only reasonable that we are your legends as you are ours." Then it smiles. It FREAKING smiles, like I just gave it the freaking answer to life itself. "Thank you, o fallen star, for allowing my eyes to be opened."

Why does it keep calling me a star? I'm clearly not a star. I SHOULD be a person, and apparently I'm a glittery fox. ...Forget that, only someone crazy as this thing could come up with a conclusion like that, and I don't even want to know what's going through its head. I somehow manage to stand up... on my four... paws... and crawl out of the hole.

"Ah! So you can walk!" The 'princess' gets all excited by my one action. "I was afraid you may have hurt yourself when you fell. 'tis good to see you are not broken."

"...What are you talking about?" I give it a passing glare. "You keep calling me a 'fallen star', why?"

"Are you not? I saw it with my own eyes: On a fullmoon night, when the dark was broken by silver light; Stars fell from sky, bright golden tears I saw it cry; They faded to dark, but one came down and left its mark; Come morning, from home I fled, to know for certain the star wasn't dead."

I groan. "Okay, you're a poet. Great. Can you say that in English?"

The fox gives me a mischievous smile. "Words are as much an art as paint or clay. 'twould be a crime to take their magic away."

It takes everything in me to not smack the damn thing right there. That, and the fact that I don't know how to smack with these stupid forelegs. Walking's simple enough, but everything just feels so... off about me.

"Would you grace me with your magic word, o star, and tell me what you are called?"

"Meh?" Right, it's still there. If I tell it my name, it'll probably stop calling me a star, at least. I'm already sick of that. "I'm Victor, but everyone calls me Vic."

"Victor..." The fox gazes at the sky... or something. "So 'tis a champion among stars to have fallen down to us..."

"It's just a name," I mumble. It's not like it means anything about who I am. Just something my parents thought sounded nice.

It looks back at me, with those giant eyes. "I suppose I must introduce myself, too." Its cape blows in the wind. For some reason, the wind wasn't here until now. "My Mother was a beautiful Queen of the ice and snow from the islands, my Father a wise lord of the heat and flame from the far East. Of their love, I was born, an ice-fox like my Mother." So is it going to say its name, or not? "To strangers, I am Vulpix, the six-tailed fox. But to those who know me, I am Aurora, the lovely princess of winter frost and lingering ember, named for the brilliant sky under which my parents met."

I roll my eyes. "Great story. So, is there any, y'know, civilization around here?"

"But of course, Sir Victor." Aurora skips ahead of me. I never knew things with four legs could skip until now. "The Forest of the Fae is no place to stay, unless you are one of them, or a wild beast. In fact, should we linger too long, we may become one of those things. But worry not, my star. Though I am but a flurry, my frost shall protect you from harm, and I shall lead you to the place of my dwelling: Argenheim, the Silver Home."

Reluctantly, I follow the crazy fox through the forest. It's not like I have any better options... Hopefully, there's some normal people in this 'Argenheim'. Or... as normal as cartoon creatures can be.

...God, what did I do to get thrown here?


	2. Frost-burn

I've never been in a forest before, but going off of books and movies and stuff, I always thought they'd be sort of noisy, with all the bugs and things. But aside from the wind and a creek, there wasn't much noise in this one. ...Aside from Aurora. She just doesn't. Shut. Up. I stopped listening to her a while back, so now I'm trying to focus on everything else. ANYTHING but her.

I guess this is as good a time as any to get used to being a... fox... Ugh, that still sounds ridiculous. How did I even end up like this? Let me think...

It was pretty late, I was going home. The weather definitely sucked, so I went under as many overhangs and awnings as I could. I don't really remember where I was going from, probably something stupid, like a party I didn't want to attend. I don't remember pointless things like that. And then... There was a light, yeah. Not like a streetlight, this was some weird ghost story stuff. I think I tried to check it out, and...

...Nope, that's it. Can't remember what came next. Guess that light's why I'm stuck in this crazy place with this crazy fox.

Looks like we're pretty much out of the forest. I thought there'd be more... I dunno, danger. Aurora was pretty sure she'd need to protect me with her 'frost' or whatever. Not that I mind, I'm not exactly a fan of getting mauled to death, but I was expecting more weird stuff.

"And here we are." Aurora pulls on a hood as she goes into the sunlight. "Argenheim is but a trot away, Sir Victor."

I've given up on getting her to stop calling me 'Sir'. Or 'Victor'. It's better than 'oh star'. Don't get me wrong, she's still super pretentious. Just, like, marginal benefit, or something. ...Look, I'm walking down a dirt road, there isn't much stimulation other than the crazy 'princess', so I'm going to focus on dumb things to tune her out.

Huh? I think I saw something... A black shape, hiding behind bushes and whatever. "Hey," I whisper, tugging Aurora's cape.

She jumps a little, like I just pulled her... fur, I guess. "P-please don't touch my cape, Sir Victor," she says quickly as she turns around. " 'tis very dear to me."

"Sure, whatever." I roll my eyes. "Look, something's following us."

"...Are you certain?" She looks around. "I've seen naught but the land and sky."

Because you're too busy waxing poetic to notice... "Positive," I say through my teeth, trying not to freak her out with another minor insult. Then, I look at the last place I saw the shape. "Hey! Whatever you are, I know you're there!"

"...Heh." A black blur shoots out of the bush, and lands behind me. "Perceptive little fox, aren't ya?" I turn to see it: A two-legged thing standing three times my height, with a red ear and, more importantly, giant white talons for hands. It smirks at me. "Perceptive people aren't good for my business, y'know. So, I'll cut to the chase." It brandishes its claws to accent the word 'cut'. "You're coming with me, little foxy. We can do this the way that doesn't hurt too much, or the way that hurts a lot, for both of you," it cackles.

I'm crouched down, growling and ready to pounce. I didn't even think, I just sort of... did. Instinct, I guess. I'll take it. I'm not going wherever this FREAK wants to take me.

"Leave this creature to me, Sir Victor," Aurora says as she steps in front of me. ...Er, what?

The freak laughs at us. "Oh, ain't this romantic? The one fox wants to save her little boyfriend!" It goes back to smirking. "Heh... I don't mind. Two's worth more than one, right?"

Two's worth... Is it going to kill us, or sell us!? Or... both!? Okay, I'm officially done with this crazy world.

Aurora doesn't look scared, though. Probably 'cause she doesn't know how to be. "You foul beast. You would dare to harm the princess of frost and the fallen star, measure them as mere _things_ to be sold? You are deplorable, nay, diabolical! And I shan't allow your villainy to continue!" ...Okay, she's actually sort of cool. In a totally stupid way. ...Don't judge me, she's literally standing between me and a few lacerations.

The thing yawns. "Nice speech, frosty. Glad you're making this interesting for me."

"Ha... You fool. You truly know not the wrath you have wrought. For you see, while I am a maiden of ice... My Father is a being of flame, and his flame burns bright within my soul! Now, begone!"

And then she spits fire. Right at the thing attacking us. And it runs away screaming.

She turns around, and smiles. "Fear not, Sir Victor. That Sneasel ruffian has gone, and we are safe." She seems a bit out of breath. Probably from the fire-breathing thing.

"...You can breathe fire," I say redundantly.

"That I can," she replies. " 'tis a blessing from the gods, surely. Vulpix are born of either fire or ice, yet I may command both." She stumbles a bit, and her words slur a little. "Although, I take more after my Mother... Ice and flame are hardly agreeable..."

I'm worried. Why am I worried? She's obnoxious and pretentious and probably insane. But... she did sort of save my life. That's a pretty nice thing, especially since I probably would've run away once that freak started tearing into her. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine, do not worry." She shakes her head, and turns back down the path. "Argenheim is nigh, I... I can make it."

I... guess I'll take her word for it. I can see the town, so yeah, we can make it. And if Aurora can't, I can probably drag her. But we do make it. Aurora didn't say anything for the rest of the walk, though. She's definitely not okay.

"Here we are..." She walks in some direction. "I'm staying at the library, over here..." And then she collapses.

"Shit. Aurora!" I dash over to her. "Aurora, you idiot! You are NOT dying out here, got it!?" I look around. There aren't a whole lot of... Pokemon... out here, but the few I see are staring. Of course, I go and make a scene... Might as well make the most of it. "Hey!" I shout at a blue thing with some black on it. "You! You know where a library is?"

The thing points in some direction. I'm probably freaking it out. Eh, whatever gets a response. I drag Aurora over that way, until I find a building that looks impressively boring enough to be a library, and head inside.

"Welcome to Argenheim Library," says a bored-looking thing with white skin and green hair. "How can I- oh, shit." She runs over once she sees me pulling Aurora behind me. Then, some kind of pink energy swirls around, and lifts her up. It only surprises me for a second. It's probably the green thing. "Dammit, girl, I told you to lay low..."

"Hey." I don't like too much attention, but I hate being outright ignored. "Could you tell me what's wrong with her?"

"Once I'm sure she's not going to freaking self-destruct, sure," the creature replies bluntly.


	3. Meet the Librarian

The librarian, whatever she's called, has been up in a loft with Aurora for... an hour? Probably not that long, but it feels like at least an hour. Not 'cause I'm too worried, I'm pretty sure she's still alive, I could feel her breathing while I was dragging her. It's because I'm in a freaking library. Just... books, everywhere. It's boring.

Eventually, she comes back down. With the urgency gone, I can get a better look at her. She's tall and humanoid, has a pair of glasses, and wears a dark green coat over some kind of dress thing that I can't spot the end of. Maybe it's part of her body. ...That's just weird to think about.

"Alright, kiddo," she says. "I'm guessing you're that 'fallen star' or whatever that Aurora was out looking for?" I roll my eyes and nod. "Great, I don't need to explain why she was out there." She sits down at the table I've been laying on. "So, ya got a name?" I tell her. "Vic. Got it. I'm Emerald. Creative, I know. Can you tell me what happened?"

I tell Emerald about the black thing that attacked us.

"...You don't know what a Sneasel is?" She looks at me weirdly. "Eh, whatever. Not everyone's knowledgeable like me. But the important part's that you saw her breathe fire. So, like, she told you her whole story, right? 'Born of ice and flame', something like that?" How could I forget when she says it so much? "Well, that's the truth. Her mom's an ice-fox, her dad's a fire-fox, so she's ice and fire. Y'know how ice and fire things are, right?" I shake my head. "You should, kiddo. You might be one when you grow up." What's that supposed to mean? "Well, ice things are literally made of ice and snow. Fire things have a fire inside them that keeps them alive. You get the picture? Aurora's an ice sculpture with a fire in the middle."

"That... makes no sense. At all."

"I've seen a lot of shit, Vic." Emerald takes off her glasses. "Let me tell you, most things don't make a whole lot of sense."

With her glasses off, I can see her red eyes clearly. Specifically, the fact that they have _claw marks_ across them. Not over them, literally _on her eyes_ ,and nowhere else on her face. That's... freaky. She chuckles.

"Heh... Always get's 'em." She puts the glasses back on. "So, back to Aurora. She's more ice than fire, so her fire doesn't need to be so big. The problem is when she tries to use it, it gets bigger, and then it starts to melt her body. Follow?"

I nod. No wonder she was so tired after blasting that Sneasel or whatever it's called.

"Alright. So, she didn't use too much fire this time, so she's just tired. She should wake up soon, but she's gonna have no energy." She sighs. "At least she's learning... The first time he tried breathing fire, she really almost killed herself. Eh, but enough about her and death. Where the hell are you from?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I say.

"Try me."

So I tell her. I tell her I'm a human from a world where Pokemon's a dumb cartoon. And she just... accepts it.

"Believe it or not, there's stories like this," she explains. "A human from another world appears in this one, becomes a Pokemon, then stops some incoming disaster. Four different accounts, from different generations and regions, but the exact same formula. Can't be a coincidence, right?"

I roll my eyes. "Sounds like bullshit."

"And what did you just tell me? Face it, Vic. You're stuck in a bullshit story." She grins smugly.

At least I can agree with her on that. "So... can you tell me what I am?"

"Eevee. A shiny one." She said it so plainly, like it should be obvious.

"I noticed the shiny part..." It's hard not to notice all the glitter. "What's an Eevee supposed to be?"

"You're a fox that can turn into pretty much whatever you want when you grow up." Emerald snaps, and a book flies off a shelf into her hand. "When I say whatever you want, I really mean it. You can be an ice or fire thing like Aurora, a psychic or fairy like me, a fish, a-"

"Wait, you're a fairy?" I didn't think there really were fairy Pokemon, let alone ones that look like... her.

"Believe it or not." She rolls her eyes. "What, am I not pretty or magical enough?"

...Wow. Pokemon are really easy to offend.

"Hey, I'm just joking, kiddo," she says, returning to her usual... bluntness, I guess. "I'm way more psychic than fairy. Most people think I'm going to be all elegant and ladylike and shit, 'cause that's what most Gardevoir are like." I guess she's a Gardevoir. "Heh... Not me, though. That's part of why I haven't gotten my eyes fixed. A quick look's all I need to throw out expectations. So don't expect me to be anything you think I might be, alright?"

What the hell does that mean? "Sure?"

"Good answer." She tosses the book onto the table. "So, I don't feel like explaining how you work in crazy detail, so just read that if you get curious. But you being shiny's a bit important." I roll my eyes and ask why. "It's cause shinies are so rare, and easy to spot. You've got different colors, and you sparkle. Real eye-catching, especially for predators and bandits. That's probably why that Sneasel tried to get you. To sell you or your fur." That's... freaky. "So, uh, watch your back, okay? I'll get you a cloak or something to hide in."

"Because nothing says 'inconspicuous' like a cloak in broad daylight," I murmur.

"If you keep acting all moody, they'll think it's a fashion statement. And I don't think that'll be a problem for you," Emerald snarks back as she gets up. "Well, I better get going. Gotta get some medicine for Aurora and other stuff."

"Hey, hold on," I shout. "...Why are you helping me and her?"

She looks over her shoulder. "You, 'cause you helped Aurora. Aurora, 'cause her parents trust me enough to take care of her." Before I can ask anything else, she leaves.


	4. An Adventure's Beginning

I spent the night at the library. I'm probably going to spend most nights here, until I find a way back to my world. Emerald gave me a room up in the loft, so that's nice. It's not anything fancy, just a spare room with a bed in it, but it's something. And it beats sharing a room with Aurora. She seems like the kind of person who won't stop talking until she falls asleep. I think I heard her reading something aloud last night. I hope she was reading, anyways. Crazy as she is, I don't think she's... like, _actually_ crazy. Plus, she apparently lives in a freaking library. I don't think there's much to do other than read. It's probably where she gets that weird way she talks from.

Oh yeah, Aurora's pretty much better. She was completely drained when she first woke up, like, she could barely walk on her own, but she seems fine now. So... I guess that's a relief. Obnoxious as she is, I can't say I want her to suffer. I know I'm a pain sometimes, but I'm not a sadist.

I haven't really left the library yet. I just... don't have a reason to. Maybe if I get bored, but that somehow hasn't been a problem yet. I'm working my way through that book Emerald gave me about Eevees and all the things I can 'evolve' into. I've gotta say, if I had to end up as a Pokemon, Eevee is a nice one to be, since I can be whatever I want later on. I'm thinking of going for the lightning one, Jolteon. Though, Flareon and Umbreon are also cool. I mean, assuming I stay in this world long enough to evolve.

"Alola!" I jump a little. I do that when something loud and unexpected drags me out of thinking. Aurora giggles. "My apologies if I shocked you. Did you sleep well, Sir Victor?"

I quickly recover from the minor surprise. "Yeah, fine. ...Hey, I didn't thank you, so... thanks. For, uh, saving my life. And stuff." ...Maybe I didn't recover.

"Your words honor me, o star," she says, smiling proudly. "I did only what any good Pokemon would."

You still hurt yourself... "I guess..." I... I was ready to run away. And she risked _melting_ herself to save me. ...Dammit, now I feel like crap. I open up the Eevee book, just to have something other than that scene to think about. "So, uh, Emerald gave me this book. It's about all the things Eevees can turn into."

"Oh? 'tis fascinating, I'm sure." She scans over the page I randomly opened to. "Although, 'tis a shame my parents are away. They could grant you a Stone."

"Stone? What do I need a rock for?" I tilt my head.

"You see, five of your evolutions need rare Stones, imbued with the very essence of the elements," she explains in her usual dramatic way. "The crashing waves, the searing flame, the roaring thunder, the quiet nature, and the graceful ice... If you wish to embody these, you must have a Stone which holds their power." She taps a small blue crystal on the clasp of her cape. "This is an Ice Stone, right here. My Mother gave it to me many years ago, so that I may evolve when I am worthy of such power and beauty." She smiles nostalgically. "I am far from ready... I am still small, and frail, and I've yet to tame my inner flame. But one day, I shall be strong, and I, an awe-inspiring Ninetales, shall reach the very edges of this realm..."

Makes sense, I guess. The part about elemental stones, I'm not sure what to think about that last part. I let her keep going on to herself for a while, before speaking up. "And... where do you get the things?"

Aurora shrugs. Apparently, shrugging without arms is very possible. "Alas, I know not. What I do know is that they are scarce, and that my parents have found several in their adventures. I could write them and request one, if you wish."

"Nah," I reply, shaking my head. "I'll just take this as it comes. I might not even be in this world for long, so evolving might not be too worth it, yeah?"

"Oh, er... I suppose, yes..." She looks away shyly. ...Does she want me to stay? Because I can't really think of a reason why she would.

There's a bit of an awkward silence that goes on for a minute or two, then the front doors creak open. "H-h-hello...?"

I look over my shoulder. There's a tiny purple-grey bat thing wearing a scarf. Aurora trots over to greet it. "Alola," she says. "Welcome to our literary paradise! I am Aurora, the frosty princess. Would you grace me with your name, little Noibat?"

"Er... I-I'm E-Echo..." The bat's looking around, like something's been chasing him. The thing's terrified, it's painfully obvious. "I-i-is... Is M-Miss Emerald here..?"

"Emerald's out buying food," I explain before Aurora can confuse him with her crazy-talk. "What do you need her for?"

"W-w-well, y-you see, m-mister..." Echo flutters over here, with Aurora close behind. "Actually, y-you p-probably won't b-believe me..."

I shake my head. "I can say some things you won't believe, either. Fire away."

It's a bit hard to understand him through all the stammering, but apparently Echo got separated from the rest of his family in a cave-in, and he flew here hoping Emerald could help find a way to meet up with them. I guess she's famous or something. Who knew. Anyways, on the way over, something attacked him.

"What attacked you? Sneasel? 'cause they seem to like attacking people."

"N-no, it... I-it wasn't l-like any P-Pokemon I've s-seen before! It was h-huge, all m-made of bl-black things, with a giant g-glowing head! It was... fr-freaky." Somehow, talking about this thing has only made Echo even more freaked out.

"How odd..." Aurora gets this pondering look. "I've heard naught of any Pokemon like that..."

"Maybe it's not a Pokemon?" I mean, there has to be things in this world that aren't cartoon things, right?

"Perhaps... Although, it's an unusual thought, no?" I roll my eyes. You KNOW I'm not really a Pokemon, right? "...Oh, sorry, 'tis easy to forget that you're not actually a Pokemon."

"Er... What?" Echo looks at me, then Aurora, then back to me.

I sigh, "Yeah, I was a human, and now I'm an Eevee. I told you there were things you wouldn't believe."

"Oh... Th-that's... um..." Weird? Crazy? Impossible? "...N-never mind, it's n-not important." Way to finish a freaking sentence.

The doors open suddenly. "I'm back," Emerald calls. She's holding a few bags with telekinesis. "Did I miss anything? Oh, Vic, here's that cloak I promised you." Before I can get a word in, she flings a mass of black cloth in my direction. Also with telekinesis.

Within a few minutes, Echo tells... screams... cries his full story to her, in way more detail than he did for me and Aurora or that I care to memorize. I'm more concerned with finding a way out of the cloak Emerald just threw on me. Gah, this would be so much easier if I still had hands... These paws are useless for anything but standing on. ...Eventually, I manage to get it on right. It's... comfortable, I guess. Soft, pretty light, and not too restrictive.

"...S-so, p-p-please h-help me f-find my family, M-Miss Emerald!" Oh good, I solved that problem right when Echo finished.

"Sorry, kiddo," Emerald says regretfully. "I'm retired. I'm not qualified for that line of work anymore."

"Wha... B-b-but m-my mom s-said y-y-you were-"

"Kid." She cuts him off sharply. "I can't explore anymore... on my own. But I happen to know an aspiring explorer who'd be more than happy to help." She looks over at... "Aurora? Think you're up for it?"

Her eyes light up. "Y... Yes, Lady Emerald! This will be a perfect beginning to my tale!" She jumps up onto a table... Here we go... "Worry not, little Echo! I, Aurora, princess of winter frost and lingering ember, shall be your guide and guardian until you are safely returned home!"

"Oh... Th-thank you, M-Miss Aurora." Echo looks confused. I don't blame him.

"Don't think you're going out there alone, princess," Emerald continues. Her gaze falls on me... Crap... "Vic and I are coming, too."

I glare. "You just said you can't explore anymore."

"On my own." She crosses her arms. "I can't fight, but I can lead the way. It's easier to name the places I don't know than the ones I do. So, I'll lead the way, and you're going to be Aurora's partner. Any questions?"

...I should just refuse. But then Emerald might kick me out, and I won't have anywhere to sleep. And yeah, I am concerned about getting this kid home. That's what I'm trying to do, after all. And yeah again, Aurora's still sort of recovering, and she probably can't really do this exploring shit on her own. It's all one big guilt-trip... And dammit, it works. "None," I mutter.

"Excellent!" Aurora leaps to the door. "Then let us be off!" As she pushes it open, I hear her whisper, "And so begins our tale..."


	5. Dive Into Darkness

Here we are, walking through that forest I woke up in. Echo's hiding in my hood, probably scared of whatever attacked him before. He's small enough that I don't mind. Nothing's happened so far, aside from Aurora telling some story she heard somewhere. I haven't been paying attention to it. I'm sure it's fascinating, but I honestly don't care.

...Oh, that's creepy. There's charred streaks on the ground. I let the rest of the group know.

"Looks like electric attacks," Emerald notes. "Definitely strong, but... restrained. Whatever did this was holding back. Probably just wanted to scare something away."

"How can you tell?" I can't tell any of that, from a few black lines in the dirt.

"These are burn marks," she explains. "If it was fire, there wouldn't be much forest left. So, it had to be electricity. And if whatever made them wanted to do damage, there'd be way more than just these."

Makes sense, I guess. "U-um... Th-th-this is w-where th-that m-m-monster attacked me..." God damn. I can feel Echo shivering on my back.

"Then it's a good thing you ran away, kiddo." Emerald looks over at us, and there's sort of a lens flare on her glasses. It's freaky. "If this thing landed a hit on you, I don't think you'd make it into town."

Aurora's been looking around the general area since we started investigating, and now it looks like she found something. "My friends, be quiet," she shout-whispers. "The... The beast is still here, but it slumbers."

"Say what?" Emerald walks over to where Aurora is, and peers through some bushes. "...Oh. Now that's a monster if I ever saw one."

Well, now I'm curious. I walk over to the two of them. Echo's pretty much burying himself in my hood now. I think he might be crying. I look through, and...

What the hell am I looking at?

It's like... A bunch of electric cables stuck into the ground, with a spikey white thing at the top. It doesn't look natural at all, let alone alive. It's also freaking huge... Not just because I'm a tiny fox thing, this thing is taller than some of the trees.

"Do you know what it is, Lady Emerald?" I think this is the first time I've seen Aurora look worried. I don't blame her.

Emerald shakes her head. "No idea. I've never seen anything like it."

"C-c-c-can w-w-we g-g-g-go n-now?" Echo asks, muffled by my hood. Yup, he's definitely crying...

"Yeah, let's get out of here." I head back onto the path we started on. "We don't want to be around when... that wakes up."

The rest of the walk is pretty uneventful. There's a pretty tense silence until we reach a mountain at the edge of the forest.

"Alright, this is it: Mirror Mountain," Emerald declares. "The place is full of wild Pokemon, so be ready to defend yourselves."

Wild Pokemon? "So, what's the difference between wild Pokemon and us?"

"Oh, sorry Vic, I thought you wouldn't need help figuring out the obvious stuff," she quips. ...It's times like these that I miss having fingers... "Wild Pokemon are, get this, basically wild animals. Understand?"

I nod, holding back a number of insults. Not because she doesn't deserve them, she absolutely does, but 'cause she'll probably just flip them around onto me.

"That was uncalled for, Lady Emerald," Aurora scolds. ...Isn't she, like, younger than me? I'm pretty sure she is. "You promised you would try to be more polite!"

Emerald sighs. "Right, sorry, my bad."

"What's their deal," I murmur to nobody in particular. Maybe Echo heard me, but I doubt Emerald and Aurora did.

With that, we head into the mountain. Echo finally comes out of my hood, I guess he's comfortable now that he's close to home. It's... actually a pretty nice place. There's these glowing crystals lighting the caves up, and most of the walls are like mirrors. That's probably why it's called Mirror Mountain. This is the first time I've actually seen myself... It's weird. I knew I was a fox, but... actually seeing myself is so... I dunno. It doesn't feel like I'm looking at myself. I'm looking at a weird fox wearing a black cloak that doesn't look anything like me.

...! Something just went 'crack'. Right under me. That can't be go-

Shit! I'm falling! I'm falling, and I can't see the ground I'm going to land on, I can't see anything in any direction but dark, oh my God, I'm going to die here, I'm going to die because I was too busy staring at my own damn reflection!

...Huh? I... stopped falling, but I didn't hit the ground. There's a pinkish glow around me... And now I'm... going up?

"Ngh... C'mon, I can't drop him..." Oh. I guess Emerald grabbed me with telekinesis.

And... I can see her now. Her eyes are glowing pink, and... crackling? There's bolts of energy shooting out from them in every direction. That... doesn't seem normal. Soon enough, I'm back on solid ground. Emerald looks exhausted, Aurora and Echo just look freaked out.

"Are you alright, Sir Victor?" Aurora dashes over to me. "I saw the ground swallow you, and I... I was so frightened, Sir Victor."

"I'm... I'm fine," I say. I'm still shaky from the fall, but I'm not hurt or anything.

"Y-yes, you are." Aurora clears her throat. "Yveltal hasn't yet claimed you, and that is reason enough for us to be thankful, yes?"

"Sure?" What's an 'Yveltal'? Probably some Pokemon.

"M-Miss Emerald?" Echo's perched on Emerald's shoulder. "A-a-are you okay? Y-you look..."

"I'll survive," Emerald says bluntly. "It's nothing that'll slow me down too much." She gets up. "Let's get you back home now, right?"

"R-r-right..." Echo flutters off, and darts ahead. "I-it's down this way... N-not much further!"

We follow him. ...I don't know what it is, but I can tell Emerald hurt herself saving me. It's probably her eyes. It was like they were about to explode when she was saving me. ...Now I feel even worse. That's two people I barely know, hurting themselves to save me. Why do they think I'm worth it? Well, Aurora, I can get, she seems like the type who likes everyone by default, but why Emerald? Is it because of the whole 'fallen star' thing Aurora finally stopped talking about?

Oh. I can't see a thing now. It's totally dark. Guess I phased out... Am I lost? I call out a few names, and get no response.

"Who'sss there?" Okay, never mind, got a response, but I don't like it. It doesn't sound like a person at all. "Are you here to sssteal another one of usss?"

"N-no?" There's a bunch of sounds echoing above me... "I'm just here with some other people, I'll just go back and-"

"Sssilencce!" Everything goes quiet. The only sound is my breath. "You've come to our home, ssso you will ssstay here... Asss long asss you can hide from me!"

For a second, the room lights up. Unfortunately, it's a huge freaking _laser blast_ lighting it up. On raw instinct, I dive out of the way, and... Yes! Still alive!

The thing attacking me hisses. "Ssslippery little prey, aren't you?"

Another blast. I evade, again. This isn't so bad. Sooner or later, someone will notice I'm missing, and then they'll come find me. ...Right?


	6. The Cave Dragon

"You can't hide forever," that monster hisses before blasting yet another laser. It's getting quicker and closer each time... But I've been able to dodge all of them so far.

I run along a wall. There has to be a way out of this cave, right? I got in here, so I can get out! Just feel along the edge, and... Aha! There's an opening! I sprint through, and-

Gah! Dammit! There's a million tiny flying things swarming around, and I just ran into them, and they're just slamming into me and pushing me back and biting and _screeching_ as loud as they can!

"He's over here, Momma!" "He's trying to run away, Momma!" "Get him now, Momma!"

While I'm overwhelmed by all the smaller things, a set of hard, sharp claws lifts me up. Now I'm close enough to the monster to sort of make out its face through the darkness. It... It looks sort of like a bat, but mostly like a _dragon_. "Hee hee hee... Why sssuch a hurry? You're the one who came into our home, after all." It also has crazy-sharp teeth. "Now... it'sss dinnertime, little prey."

I'm absolutely terrified... I'm shaking, probably whimpering... But I'm not going to let this freak know it. I scream out "NO!" and them bite down on what I think is its arm. The monster roars in pain. I bite down harder. I... think that's blood I'm tasting. Gross. Whatever. Beats getting eaten. I don't let go until I feel the monster's grip loosen. ...Then it does, and I drop a couple feet down onto the ground.

" _Khhissssss... Come back here, little prey..._ " Alright, there's probably a laser coming, no problem.

...Oh. This is different. I'm getting pelted with wind instead of a huge energy blast. And the wind gets faster, and faster, and... Shit, now I'm pretty much stuck in a tornado. It's whipping up a huge cloud of dust, and it's getting hard to breathe... And the dust gets in my eyes, and it stings... I can barely hear anything over the howling wind...

I need to get out of here. I NEED to get out of here.

I sprint in whichever direction it is I'm facing, but get blown back, and slam into the cold hard ground. There's a sickening crack... I hope it wasn't something important. The wind's so strong, it's like ramming into a wall. I can't see the monster, I still can't see ANYTHING in this dark, but I can make out the sound of wings beating above me... So maybe...

I jump up, reach out, and grab onto what I'm assuming is a tail, from the way it's squirming around. Then I bite into it, like before. It's tougher to get into, like, it hurts my jaw and I'm pretty sure I chipped a tooth. And there's a lot more... substance, and a lot more blood, but... same result. I just try not to think about it too hard. The monster shrieks, and thrashes around, trying to throw me off. I hold on tighter, both to do more damage and because I don't want to get thrown onto the rock-solid ground again.

Eventually, I go flying off. I hit the ground, roll a few feet, and then lay there. Something else just went crack... I REALLY hope it wasn't something important. Maybe playing dead will work. ...Wait, it's trying to eat me, playing dead accomplishes nothing. So instead, I scramble onto my paws, trying to ignore how _everything hurts_ , and make a mad dash. I hit the wall of... monster kids? They called the bigger one 'momma', so I guess these are its kids. Whatever. I slam into them with all my strength, and manage to break through into the tunnel.

"Momma, he's getting away!" "Momma, are you hurt...?" "Momma, don't give up!" I hear their shouts echo down as I run. I barely listen. Just trying to survive. There's still dust in my throat, my ears are still ringing, my eyes still sting, I need to get as far away from here as I can.

Aha! Light! I can see light! I run faster, and reach... Oh. It's still cave, and it's a part I don't recognize. But I can see again! I let out a long, relieved sigh, and sit... lay... Okay, fine, I pretty much fall over from exhaustion. There's more of that mirror wall in front of me... My fur's all dirty, my eyes are sort of red, and the fur around my mouth is... stained... I turn away. I don't want to look at that.

I try calling out for help. But I can't, I just break out into a coughing fit. Oh well. At least I'm alive. Hurt, tired, but alive.

...Voices. I can hear voices from further in, getting closer... It's from a different direction than the one I came from, so it's probably not that monster or its kids.

"I-i-it's not far now..."

"Good. I've had enough disasters for one day."

Oh. Isn't that convenient, it's voices I know. That, or I'm going crazy. Wouldn't surprise me. Yep, here comes Emerald, Echo, and... wow, Aurora looks sort of... depressed. I make some noise to get their attention.

...Looks like it worked. "Sir Victor!" Aurora pretty much tackles me, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a hug. She's cold to the touch. Guess that comes with being an ice-thing. "I-I was so worried! I thought you'd been taken by the dark, and I would never... Oh, thank saintly Arceus that you are safe!" And now she's crying. ...Why? I mean, it's not like I expected her to want me dead, but... I didn't think she'd get so emotional.

"Looks like ya found some trouble, eh," Emerald remarks as she sits down next to me. She reaches in a pocket, and pulls a bottle of what I'm assuming is water and a small yellow berry. "Here, eat up."

I go for the water first. Holy shit, water never felt so great. It gets all the dust out of my throat, so I can breathe right. Then I go for the berry. ...Whoa. Suddenly, I have all my energy back. If I broke any bones, they just fixed themselves. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I'm not complaining. "Thanks..."

"So, what happened, anyways? You just sort of vanished once we ran out of light," Emerald says while she cleans her glasses.

I shake my head. "I'm not really sure... One second I was with you guys, then I... wasn't." I nod down the way I just came from. "I was over there, in some kind of monster nest. Barely made it out. Seriously, don't go there."

"U-um..." Echo looks shyer than usual. "Th-th-that's... um... th-that's wh-where I l-live..."

"What?" I look at him, then the way I came, then back to him. "Are you sure?" ...Wait a minute. I look back the way I came. And... something's coming. Shit.

" _Khhisssssss... You will not essscape me, little prey..._ " Here it comes. The monster. Now I can see it clearly: A huge, black bat-dragon with white fur around its neck. There's bleeding bite marks on its tail and wings... Wow. Guess I really did some damage.

"Momma, wait!" Several things that look like Echo (what) fly out and grab onto the monster, trying to pull it back. "Momma, it's okay!" "Momma, you don't need to-"

The monster roars, and shakes them off. Energy starts collecting in its jaws... Another laser! Shit, I don't have enough time to dodge, not with Aurora clinging to me! Here it comes... A blue flash of light fills my vision. I brace myself for what's probably going to hurt a lot...

And... it doesn't come...? I look up, and see Emerald standing between me and the monster. Did she just bodyblock that laser...!?

"Hey, can you maybe chill?" Emerald crosses her arms. "I know my friend looks cute, but let me tell ya, he ain't sweet, so find some other prey."

Echo flutters forward. "M-M-M-Momma? P-p-please d-don't hurt M-Mister Victor..."

"Ssson?" Suddenly, the monster seems less... monstrous. "Echo, isss it really you?"

"I-I'm s-sorry I g-got lost, Momma... I-I-I p-promise it w-won't happen again..."

"There there..." And... they're hugging now. "Do not cry, ssson. Mother isss with you."

I tug on Emerald's coat. "So, what's going on? Also, how are you alive?"

"A lost kid got reunited with his mommy. Isn't it obvious?" Emerald shrugs. "Also, fairies wreck dragons. Don't ask me how, that's just a fact of life."

The other things like Echo... Aurora called him a Noibat, right? Some of the other Noibats fly over. They all start talking. Really fast. "Sorry about Momma." "And sorry about trying to keep you from running away." "She's been kind of scary since Echo went missing." "She usually only hunts wild Pokemon." "Don't hate us? Please?"

"S-sure?" Can they slow down? And... not all talk to me at once? It's freaky, like one personality talking through all of them. I guess they're siblings, so they're good at predicting each other, but still.

"Do not fear, my nocturnal friends," Aurora declares. " 'twas only a misunderstanding, and all is well. Though I loathe to think harm would come to Sir Victor, I wish no ill for you or your family."

"Whoa, thanks!" "Wait, we're friends?" "What does 'nocturnal' mean?"

"You. Sshhining Eevee." I jump. Echo's mom is RIGHT behind me.

"Y-yeah?" I'm shaking. I know she's not going to kill me, but... she WAS, like, ten seconds ago!

"I... I am sssorry, for attacking you. Calling you prey." She kneels down to be eye-level with me. It... only makes her seem bigger. "When Echo went missssing, it... put me in a dark placcce. He'sss my youngessst, sssmallessst child." That hissing is getting really distracting. Why does she even do that? Echo doesn't. The other Noibats don't. "He'sss alwaysss wanted to sssee the world above, but it hasss alwaysss frightened him away. I wasss ssso afraid... Afraid that he'd sssee what he sshhould be afraid of."

I nod. She's probably talking about Pokemon like that Sneasel. "So, what are you getting at?"

"You are with Emerald, yesss? Ssso, you helped bring my ssson back home. Thank you, little foxxx." She smiles. It... still looks scary. But I appreciate the effort.

"No problem." I try smile back. "Oh, and sorry about your wing and tail."

Echo's mom shakes her head. "Thessse? Thessse are nothing, they will heal." She chuckles. "You have ssspirit, but you don't quite have the ssstrength to back it up."

I groan. "Gee, thanks for the compliment."


	7. Newcomer

_... ... ..._

 _...I'm somewhere... foggy. I can't really see anything..._

 _"Hee hee hee..." A voice? Is someone else here? "Is that how you're gonna deal with everything? Run away, and hope someone else will bail you out?"_

 _"Who's there?" I whirl around. I see some shape in the fog, but I can't really make out any details._

 _"Let's say... a friend. And your friend wants you to find a less boring solution to your next problem! Hee hee hee!"_

 _I growl, "Shut up."_

 _The voice keeps giggling. "Well, whatever you want, friend! See you later!"_

 _... ... ..._

I jolt awake. Was that a dream...? Something seems weird about it... Oh well. It's probably not important.

We still haven't left Mirror Mountain. We set up a little camp by Echo's cave, so we can rest up before making the trip back to town. I'm not complaining. It took a while to get this far, and I guess Emerald's saving those crazy magic berry things for injuries.

Emerald and Aurora are still asleep. I think I'll walk around a bit, just so I'm doing something other than sit here waiting for them to wake up. I stand up, and... notice a weight on my back. "Echo," I murmur, "why are you in my hood?"

"S-sorry," Echo whispers, "I-I-I j-just... W-well, th-the thing is, y-you see..." Oh my God, just spit it out... "I-I've n-never really s-seen anything outside th-the caves before, a-and... I s-sorta... d-didn't w-want it to end?"

I groan. "You tried to be a stowaway. In my hood. Right after we get you back home." Kid's not very clever, is he?

"Y...yes... I'm s-sorry, M-Mister Victor..." He gets quieter and quieter with every word. "I... I'll g-go now... Th-thanks for helping me..." He flutters out of my hood.

... "Hey, wait." I give him a side glance. "If you want to come with us, I'm fine with it. Just tell your mom, okay? I don't want to make her mad."

"R-really?" His eyes light up. "Th-th-thank you M-Mister V-Victor!"

Just don't make me regret it... "Yeah, no problem." And he flies off.

"Heh... Guess you're less of an ass than I thought."

Great, Emerald's up. I roll my eyes and look over at her. "Who asked you?"

"Nobody. Just thought you'd want someone to talk to 'til we head out." She looks down the cave. "...You really like that kid, huh?"

"...He reminds me of someone." And I refuse to tell her any further details. "What, do you not want him to come?"

Emerald shakes her head. "Nah. I like kids. They haven't learned how to be assholes yet. And lemme tell ya, there's more than enough assholes in the world."

I nod. "Yeah, I know what you mean. ...But most of the kids I've met are still assholes."

"Shit. Your world must suck," Emerald replies with an extraordinary degree of bluntness. "No offense or anything."

"None taken," I say, sort of waving my paw. "My world definitely sucks."

"Then why do you want to go back?" She's looking me in the eyes now.

"...Well..." I was not expecting this sort of question. "...I mean, it's my home. I got family and shit. Y'know?"

"Yeah, I know," she says with a nod. "...Hey. Remember when I said this sort of thing's happened before?" Of course I do. It sounded relatively important. I nod. "Good. I was just thinking about it... Mostly the part about a disaster. I couldn't think of any real problems that need divine intervention or whatever, until we saw that _thing_ in the woods."

"What are you getting at?" I hope she's not getting at what I think she's getting at. "Are you saying I have to _fight_ that thing?"

She sort of laughs. "Seriously? You sure know how to jump to conclusions, Vic." ...I so want to smack her right now... "I'm not getting at anything. I just think it has something to do with you. I mean, you obviously came from a different world, and that creep definitely looks like it could be from a whole other world. See the connection?"

I roll my eyes. "My world might suck, but we don't have things like... that."

"Not saying ya do. Who said there were only two worlds? More likely there's a shit ton, and ours are just the closest." She laughs again. "Okay, now that I say it out loud, it sounds really stupid." Couldn't agree more. "But it's just, y'know, something to think about. I have way too much time to think these days."

There's a few minutes of silence, broken by... purring? Apparently, Aurora purrs when she wakes up. "Mmm... Good morning, my Lady... Good morning, my star..."

"G'morning, Princess," Emerald replies pleasantly.

"...Morning." I thought she was done calling me a star.

Aurora yawns, stretches, and then stands up. "So, are we prepared for our journey home? There is an oppressive air in these caverns... 'twould be preferable to me if we would linger little more."

I take a second to translate what she just said. "I'm ready once Echo gets back. Dunno 'bout Emerald."

"Little Echo?" She cocks her head. "What of him? Did we not escort him home?"

"The kid wants to come with us," Emerald explains. "It's a 'call for adventure' sorta thing. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Oh, of course! I just never thought one so... fragile would heed the call." Like you're so un-fragile.

Emerald shrugs. "Well, he is a dragon. Power like that's just begging to do something."

Hold on a second. "Echo's a dragon?" I mean, yeah, his mom definitely is, but Echo's a tiny bat. Not a dragon.

"You'd be surprised what some dragons look like," Emerald replies. "There's slimeball dragons, seaweed dragons, cloud dragons... It's a pretty broad category."

"My Mother says dragon-trees live on the islands. Although, I've yet to see them myself," Aurora adds. "Mother says they have three faces on their heads, a fourth on their tails, and necks that stretch into the clouds. They must be quite stunning, no?"

I nod. "Sure." Those things are either horrifying or ridiculous. I hope I never need to find out which one.

"Missss Emerald?" I jump. ...I wish Echo's mom would stop talking from RIGHT behind me. "It ssseemsss my ssson would like to join you."

"Sure. I don't see why not," Emerald says nonchalantly.

"Th-thank you!" Echo zips off his mom's shoulder, and lands... back in my hood. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get a chance to actually wear the hood. "Bye, mom! A-and don't worry, I-I'll be sure to c-come and visit sometime!"

"There wasss never any doubt." The dragon turns to Emerald. "Missss Emerald. I trussst you will take care of my Echo?"

Emerald adjusts her glasses, and says, "Of course. I've already got two kids to take care of, what's a third?"

"I'm eighteen," I grumble.

"What do you want, a trophy? Far as I'm concerned, you're a kid until proven otherwise, kiddo," she snarks back.

I mutter a few swears under my breath.

As we start heading back, Echo asks, "S-so, you're actually a human?"

"Yeah. But I don't know why I'm an Eevee now," I tell him.

"W-well, th-that's okay. I j-just, y'know... th-thought they weren't real?"

"I thought Pokemon weren't real either. But here I am."

Most of the walk goes by quietly. Emerald and Aurora are chatting, but I'm not listening to them. Echo's looking around from his spot in my hood. I guess this is the last time he'll see his home for a while, so he's taking it all in. Soon enough, we reach the end of the cave, and...

...Oh shit.

The forest is on fire.


	8. Flash Fire

The forest is on fire. All I can see is fire, all I can hear is fire, all I can smell or taste is fire... That... last part sounds weirder than I meant. Point is, fire everywhere. It's freaky. Probably gonna have nightmares about this.

"You here, Vic?" Emerald shakes me a bit. "Please tell me this isn't a trauma trigger or something, we don't have time for a flashback!"

I jolt out of staring death in the face. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Other than, y'know, THAT."

"Good." She takes a knee to be eye-level with me. "Vic, Aurora, Echo, go back in the cave. Don't leave until I come back."

"Come back," I repeat.

Aurora steps forward. ...She looks exhausted. Probably the freaking INFERNO right in front of us. "L...Lady Emerald... Where are you going?"

"I think I know what started this fire, and I'm going to stop it," she says grimly serious.

Echo peeks out of my hood. "Y-y-y-you d-d-don't m-mean..."

"Oh, I do mean." She takes off her glasses. ...And I can see those freaky scars again, and considering the tiny scream I just heard, so can Echo. "I'm going to find that monster, and take it down."

"No!" Aurora grabs at Emerald's coat. "I... I cannot allow it! I cannot lose you..."

Emerald sighs, and... hugs Aurora. "You won't. I've survived worse than this." She lets go, and gets up. "Just... please, stay where it's safe. I'll be back. Promise." And with that, she runs off.

I tap Aurora's back. "C'mon, we've gotta..."

...She's crying. She probably isn't listening to me. Fine then. I _drag_ her into the cave, where it's pretty cool and there isn't anything particularly flammable.

Echo flutters out of my hood onto the ground. "I-i-is she g-gonna be okay?"

"No idea," I sigh. "I've only known her and Emerald for a few days."

Some time passes. The only sounds are the roaring fire outside and Aurora murmuring something to herself. Then, Aurora gets up, and starts walking to the exit.

"H-hey," Echo asks, "w-where are you going?"

"I am going to help Lady Emerald, little Echo," she replies solemnly.

I stand up. "No. You won't last a second out there."

She turns around and looks me in the eye. "Do you truly expect me to stay my paw when I can act? Nay. I shall do whatever I can, no matter how little it is."

Seriously? Is she seriously doing this? "Okay, fine, but think! I've seen how you react to fire, and there's a lot of it out there. You'll melt before you get five feet out!"

"Oh, now this is pathetic," says a voice from apparently nowhere. "As a rule, I don't really interact with mortals like you, but seeing as you're just so helpless, I'll make an exception, just for you."

"Who's there?" Whoever it is, I hate them already. I hate it when people act all superior for no reason.

The air sort of shimmers, and this... floating pink cat thing appears. Aurora gasps. "Y-you're Mew!"

"My reputation must precede me," the cat thing says. "Yes, I am Mew. Or, a Mew. I have a bunch of siblings, but there's so few of us that you'll probably never meet another Mew, so just call me that."

Aurora's freaking out. "Oh my gosh... Is this true? Am I really seeing... A-ahem! O glorious Mew, forefather of all Pokemon, I, Aurora, daughter of frost and flame, beseech thee, and humbly ask that you would help my friend, my teacher, my guardian Lady Emerald. She has gone alone into the wildfire to smite a terrible beast, and I fear- we all fear that she may never return to us. Please, O great Mew, grant us your blessing so that we may come to her side!"

Mew looks... a bit lost. I know I am. "Chill out, Snowball. Like I said, you're so helpless it hurts to watch, so I'm gonna fix that. Ready? 'Cause heeere we gooo!"

A flash of pink light fills the cave, and... we're outside. Deep into the forest. For some reason, there isn't any fire in a perfect circle around us. Echo shrieks and dives back into my hood. ...I'd be annoyed, but I get why he's scared right now.

"Teleportation. It's a convenient skill, don't 'cha think?" Mew giggles. "Oh, and don't worry about the fire. I'm holding it away from us. I'm Psychic and a Legendary, I can do things like that. Hee hee!"

"T-truly, yours is a great power..." Aurora looks... not too bad, but I doubt she's totally fine. "You have my thanks, O Mew."

"Oh? Do I have a new fan now? Hee hee hee..."

I don't get why Mew brought me and Echo out here. I also don't get what it keeps laughing at, but this thing's definitely powerful. Probably shouldn't say anything to make it mad... Anyways, now we just need to find Emer-

"EAT MOONLIGHT, SHITFACE!"

Never mind, Emerald's close. And so is the monster. ...And Aurora instantly runs off. Apparently she doesn't know how to make a plan or anything before sprinting into certain doom. Whatever. I run after her. This isn't a great planning environment.

We end up in a clearing. Emerald's here, with pink lightning streaming out of her eyes. The monster's also here, and yes, it's the one we saw before that's basically a bunch of electric cables stuck to a spiky light bulb all in the vague shape of a tree, and it's blasting electricity all ov-

"Sir Victor!" Aurora dives into me as some of that electricity blasts in my direction. It misses both of us. ...I should've seen it coming.

"Oh, for the love of- Aurora! Vic!" And Emerald sees us. "What are you DOING!? It's not safe here!" No shit.

"You shan't face this beast by your lonesome, my Lady," Aurora declares between spitting... ice laser things that the monster barely seems to notice. "I am by your side, no matter the peril!"

I mutter, "And Echo and I got dragged along." I doubt Echo will be much help. He's just shivering and crying in my hood. And I can't do much other than bite, and I don't think biting a sentient mass of cables is a good idea. I look around for Mew, and... I can't find it. Good to know it's so invested in our safety.

Ha! I dodge a lightning blast. I am NOT letting one of those catch me off guard again! It's just like those dragon-lasers, just less predictable!

"Just... Just stay away from the fire!" Emerald starts charging a ball of silvery-pink light in her hands. "You aren't dying, got it!" And she throws it at the monster. The monster reels back and makes this freaky metallic sound, then swings a tendril at her. Emerald just sort of float-jumps out of the way.

"I shall try, with all my might!" Aurora launches a particularly large and bright ice laser thing, which somehow creates a block of solid ice around one of the monster's limbs, despite the inferno surrounding everyone. The monster frantically slams its tentacle into the ground. I'm pretty sure she just made it mad.

While all this is happening, I'm just... over to this side... dodging the occasional lightning strike... If I wasn't totally freaking out over the extremely likely chance of death, I might be dissapp- AHA! Dodged another one!

...Echo's still having a breakdown. Honestly, I should probably get him out of here. But I don't even know which direction 'out of here' would be. And I wouldn't make it far, considering that I'm stuck in a WILDFIRE. So I'll settle for not dying. Seems like a reasonable compromise.

Aurora and Emerald are still blasting away at the monster, while it fails to hit either of them. It's almost unfair. Aurora's freezing over most of its limbs, while Emerald keeps throwing those light blasts.

The monster makes a metallic roar, and... breaks out of all that freezing. I can't tell which part of its light-bulb-head is the front, but I'm pretty sure it's glaring at Aurora. She lets out a small "Oh no," and the monster viciously swings a tentacle at her... and the attack connects! Aurora goes flying... right... right into a fire...

"Shit!" Emerald throws one last blast at the monster, then runs to that flame. So do I. ...The running part, not the blasting part. I can't blast.

Then... the fire starts shrinking down... It looks like it's getting absorbed into Aurora? Soon, that one bit of fire's gone, and Aurora seems alive, but... She's shaking, struggling to stand up, and there's an orange glow that looks like it's coming from inside her body. I take a step forward. "...Aurora?"

"So... So hot, I can't... I can't...!" And then she lets out an _agonizing_ wail, like, I can _hear_ the pain, and a massive stream of flame spews from her mouth! ...It seems fairly effective on the monster, but I'm more concerned with Aurora potentially melting herself!

"Aurora!" Emerald runs over and picks her up once the fire-breathing stops. "Stay with me, Aurora, nothing's gonna hurt you, I'm here, I'm with you, I..."

Aurora doesn't respond, she just keeps making these sounds that make it obvious how much she's hurting. Emerald sighs, waves her hand, and Aurora... falls asleep? Just like that? I guess it's a Psychic thing, but still? Seems sorta weird.

A-anyways, Emerald turns around and glares at the monster. "Now you've done it. _I will end you_." Pink lightning explodes out of her eyes, I'm pretty sure it broke her glasses just now. She raises her arm, and the monster flies up in the air. Then she swings down, and the monster slams into the ground. And again. And again. And it just keeps happening for a while, until the monster's head-light flickers off and it stops moving.

"Hee hee hee... Bravo, all of you." Mew appears out of nowhere. ...Of course it waits until the fighting's over... "Especially you, Gardevoir. Not bad for a crippled Psychic."

Emerald glares at Mew. "Vic, Echo, come on. I'll get us home."

"Oh, is that how you thank me?" Mew looks sort of offended. "After I go out of my way to bring you some backup? You should be honored. I don't really associate with mor- Urk!"

Is Emerald force-choking Mew!? I'm pretty sure that's what's happening. It looks like it. "Backup? You threw bunch of kids into a forest fire to fight a monster, and one of them is going to die if I don't get her somewhere safe. And you want me to _thank_ you? I knew Legendaries were apathetic, uncaring assholes, but you're in a whole other league." Emerald releases her grip. "I don't have anymore time to waste on you. I'd like to put my energy into _helping_ people, something you apparently don't understand."

Gasping for breath, Mew spitefully says, "You're lucky... I tolerate blasphemy way more than the others... I could wipe you out, right here..."

"Could've fooled me." Emerald looks over at me. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

I'm not sure how we're going to do that, but it beats staying here.


	9. Ongoing Struggle

Just to clarify, everything is still on fire. Emerald's carrying Aurora and running through, I'm following her, and Echo's riding along in my hood. The actual heat isn't too much of a problem; Apparently, Emerald can make "Light Screens" that block energy, and they're exponentially boosting the odds that we actually survive this. What I'm worried about is if Emerald can stay standing. I don't know what that pink lightning stuff is, but I can tell it hurts her. It's sort of like when Aurora breathed fire that first time, so I'm half-expecting her to just pass out. And if she does... A-anyways, no time to think about that, gotta keep running!

It's hard to tell where we're going. I'm not going to act like I knew the layout of the forest in the first place, but everything looks the same. As in, everything's practically invisible behind all the fire, and all this smoke in my eyes isn't helping. I can still _see_ , but my eyes just sting, and all the brightness isn't helping. I think I've seen a few trees fall down, but I'm not sure. If they have, at least it wasn't in our way.

Suddenly, I hear a groaning sound to my right. Emerald whirls around, and shouts, "Move!"

Without any hesitation, I lunge forward, and-

... ... ...

There's a loud _thud_. I can't move my hind legs, or my tail. I can't feel them or my entire lower half, either. I don't need to look to know. Something fell, probably a tree, and I'm pinned under it. Probably broke some bones, too. A lot of bones, more likely. Though, if I somehow survive, I guess that won't be a problem, with those weird berries. I hope. ...I just had to bring up falling trees, didn't I...

"O-o-oh my g-gosh..." Echo flutters out of my hood. ...Good to know he didn't get squashed. "M-Mister Victor... Y-y-you're..." He half-lands half-falls, and clutches his head in those tiny claws on the ends of his wings. "O-oh no, th-this c-c-can't b-be happening..."

It hurts to move my head, so I can't really look him in the eyes. "Get out of here," I tell him. ...Damn, I sound weak right now.

"Wh... what?" He looks up at me, teary-eyed. ...He's been teary-eyed pretty much this whole time, but especially now.

I repeat, "Get out of here. I can't go anywhere."

"B-but wh-what about..." He turns around. "M-Miss Emerald! Y-y-you're Psychic, r-right? C-can't you get th-this off him?"

"...I'll try," Emerald says. She holds out her arm that isn't holding Aurora, energy gathers around it, and... Lightning surges out of her eyes, and there's a sharp crack like you'd hear when a fuse blows out, then she screams and collapses to the ground, still holding Aurora in her arms. "Dammit..."

"Ah! O-oh no, I-I-I'm s-sorry, I-"

"Don't be." Emerald isn't really moving right now, but apparently she's still conscious. "I would've tried even if you didn't ask. Never be sorry for wanting to help."

A few minutes of silence pass. Well, silence aside from the roar of the wildfire and Echo trying to hide the fact that he's sobbing into my cloak.

Then... Rain? No, not just rain, this is a freaking storm, and each raindrop is a tangible impact. Somehow, it's enough to put out the fire pretty much right away. Emerald chuckles. "About damn time..."

What, can you sense the weather? "Time for what?" My fur's already soaked... I reach over and pull on my hood. I can at least move enough to do that.

"This is how we handle fires around here," Emerald explains. "It's surprisingly easy for Pokemon to manipulate the weather."

A few more minutes of silence pass, then Emerald moves a little bit, motioning toward Echo. "Hey, Echo? Can you fly into town, and get some help?"

"N-no..." Speaking of Echo, He's using my cloak as a blanket now. "I c-can't fly in r-rain like this... S-sorry."

"Ah well. It was a long shot." Emerald sighs. "Guess we just gotta wait for help, then."

"You don't sound like you need help," I comment.

Emerald chuckles again. "Y'know what that stuff coming out of my eyes was? The technical name is 'Special Attack', but that sounds awkward, so I just call it 'energy'. It's what powers my... powers, I guess. Those scars on my eyes give it a way out, so I lose energy when I do anything more taxing than a little bit of telekinesis. Here's a thing most don't know about Gardevoir: We have basically no muscle, so we need to use telekinesis just to hold up our own weight. And now... I'm out of energy. Can't even pull my own weight." She chuckles some more. "Ain't that poetic? I'm literally useless without my powers. I've never met the Legendary who made this universe, but when I do, the first thing I'll do is kick their ass for this sort of thing." Then she goes into full-on laughter. "Ah well... At least I know I won't be meeting them yet."

We all just sit here for a while. I can see Aurora under Emerald's coat. ...She still has that orange glow, but it's died down a little. "So, how'd Aurora... y'know, survive getting thrown into a fire?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say it's Flash Fire." Which is...? "It's a passive ability some Fire Pokemon have that lets them absorb fire to make theirs stronger. Regular Vulpix have it, and apparently Aurora does, too."

"Huh." That explains how she blasted all that fire right then.

Even more time passes, and as the rain dies down, I hear something in the distance: Footsteps. Or... pawsteps? Whatever. Something's coming.

A voice calls, "Is anyone there?" ...It's a sickeningly typical 'hero' voice. A creature appears atop another fallen tree in front of us: A four-legged wolfish thing that's mostly white with some black, with some fur covering one eye and a single curved horn, wearing a satchel or something slung over its... Does it count as a shoulder when it's front legs? Whatever, I'll say it is. It has a bag or satchel or whatever slung over its shoulder, with some kind of badge fixed on the strap. Echo crawls under my hood, apparently intimidated.

"Well, fancy meeting you here, Law," Emerald quips, weakly waving her arm.

"Oh!" The creature leaps down toward us. "Emerald! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Eh, hasn't been too long." A brief pause. "So, are you gonna help us out, or..."

"Right! Forgive me, got a bit nostalgic there." The thing apparently named Law paws open his satchel and somehow grabs out something that looks sort of like a dragonfruit, and feeds it to Emerald (which I'm positive is making her feel humiliated). A second later, she sits up like she never had a problem.

"Thanks. Got any Rawst in there?" She holds up Aurora. "This girl needs some, badly."

Law nods, staring in disbelief as he grabs what I can only describe as a blue strawberry. "Of course. ...What's wrong with her?"

"I'll explain later," Emerald says, taking the strawberry with telekinesis and feeding it to Aurora. "And don't forget the Eevee."

"It's a bit hard not to notice." Law turns toward me. "Child, get ready."

"Get ready for what?"

Instead of responding, Law rushes toward the tree. ...A blade of pink energy just grew out of his horn, and... Whoa! He just sliced off most of the tree! I'm guessing there's not much left on top of me, because all it takes is a push to get it off. "There we go. Can you walk?"

I look him square in the one eye I can see through his emo-fur. "Do you really need to ask?"

"Well, you must be well enough," he quips as he takes out another one of those yellow berries. I eat it, and, like last time, all the damage I've taken suddenly heals. "I should introduce myself. My name's Law. I'm an independent Rescuer."

"I'm Vic," I tell him as I stand up. "And the one who's been hiding from you this whole time's Echo."

Echo pokes his head out. "H-hello..."

"Hello there!" Ugh. His voice is so ridiculously 'gallant' and 'powerful' it's like a cartoon's talking right in front of me. ...Different cartoon than usual. "You don't need to be afraid, child! I'm here to help!"

"Okay," Echo says quickly before diving back into my hood.

Emerald turns to us. "Looks like we're all good and rescued. You two ready to head back?"

"Totally." I nod. "I'm beyond done with this place."


End file.
